GreenBuildingTalk: Legendary Green Architect Peter Pfeiffer’s “Greening the Kitchen” Presentation
Editor’s note: Chicago has become quite the hot spot for green building, so our friends at GreenBuildingTalk (who are based there) have frequent opportunities to hear from some of the brightest minds in the field. Today’s post share excerpts from a presentation by architect Peter Pfieffer, and was originally published on Monday, April 21, 2008.
ALNO hosted a K/BIS press breakfast on 4/12/08, at their new showroom in the heart of Chicago’s design district. Aside from enjoying a great mimosa and walking through ANLO’s impressive kitchen cabinetry displays, I sat in on renowned green architect Peter Pfeiffer’s presentation he gave that morning focused on “Greening the Kitchen”.
Named “one of the most influential residential architects of the past decade,” by Residential Architect and honored as the “National Green Advocate of the Year,” by the National Association of Home Builders,” Pfeiffer has demonstrated a life-long commitment to mainstreaming green building in North America. He is a founding principal of Barley + Pfeiffer Architects, a firm recognized nationally for its pioneering use of environmentally responsive building design and construction techniques, which has completed 400 green projects nationally since it’s founding in 1987. Pfeiffer’s work has been published both in the United States and abroad, in such diverse venues as the Washington Post, The New York Times, Fine Homebuilding, and Better Homes & Gardens magazine. On multiple occasions he has been a guest on National Public Radio as well as the HGTV network.
Pfeiffer’s expertise includes resource-conserving design, healthy living and work environments, and high-performance construction methods. Pfeiffer’s presentation covered one of his newest green home designs in Austin, Texas which opened for tours on Earth Day, April 22, 2008. This project will be an example of modern design exemplifying that being green can also be stylish, while not compromising the environment and/or atmosphere. Kitchen cabinet systems including ALNOSTYLE and ALNOLOOK were implemented.
For over 80 years, ALNO has been creating innovative kitchen systems that feature wood, glass, gloss, color and overall architecture. Having practiced green manufacturing for decades, all ALNO cabinets are constructed from FSC-certified materials and reflect the company’s devotion to environmentally-responsible practices.
Watch excerpts of the “Greening the Kitchen” presentation in the YouTube clips below. Mr. Pfeiffer discussed many energy-efficient design ideas that will help you succeed with your green building project.
To watch the rest of the excerpts from Pfeiffer’s presentation, please visit GreenBuildingTalk
Read More about Greening Your Kitchen:
- Green Cabinets: When Wood is Good
- KBIS Report: It’s Getting Green in Here
- Low Impact Living: Green Your Kitchen
Photo credit: decor8 at Flickr under a Creative Commons license



Niiice. It is definitely a life long process, as one can always be greener, or make products which are more practically green, thus making the world greener. We build homes the greenest we can, and we find ways to do better.